The present invention relates to a drive device and to a method of operating a drive device.
The following discussion of related art is provided to assist the reader in understanding the advantages of the invention, and is not to be construed as an admission that this related art is prior art to this invention.
A drive device is used, for example, to provide a drive torque for a motor vehicle, i.e. to provide a drive torque for propelling the motor vehicle. The drive device represents in this case part of the motor vehicle and includes several drive units which may be of a same type, for example constructed as an internal combustion engine or as an electric machine. The drive units may also involve different types so as to provide a hybrid drive device, e.g. one drive unit is an internal combustion engine and another drive unit is an electric machine. In addition to drive units, the drive device includes a transmission unit, e.g. a manually shifted transmission, which has a primary shaft and a secondary shaft. The primary shaft can be coupled with the first drive unit, e.g. in direct operative connection. The secondary shaft is coupled or in direct operative connection with an output shaft of the drive device for example, or forms by itself the output shaft of the drive device. The primary and secondary shafts are connectable to one another via gear pairs with different gear ratios to realize various travel gears.
It would be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved drive device to obviate prior art shortcomings and to provide great flexibility in terms of installation of the drive device.